Marutūāhu-Ockham invites public to see inside first Ōwairaka, Mt Albert apartment block Toi
Toi, the new apartment building in Owairaka, Mt Albert by Marutūāhu Ockham, as at late February, 2025. Photo / supplied by Ockham Residential
The public is being invited to see inside the first almost-completed apartment building at the new multibillion-dollar Maungārongo village in Ōwairaka, Mt Albert.
The five-iwi Marutūāhu collective, with developer Ockham Residential, has got the new 65-unit Toi block up but not yet completed at Carrington on ex-Unitec land.
That is part of a wider scheme to build around 40 new apartment blocks with 3000 units in the next two decades.
This Sunday, the developers plan tours for people who pre-register for free tickets.
The pre-arranged one-hour visits on March 16 are from 10am until 1pm. Ockham is inviting people in, entering via gate one off Carrington Road next to the old brick hospital.
No Jandals, pushchairs or wheelchairs and wear strong shoes, it says. Ockham’s website directs people to Humantix to pre-register for a ticket.
So far, only a third of the units in the six-level block have been sold, even though Toi is due to be finished soon.
“We are 34% sold across this project, with a flurry of new interest this year,” an Ockham saleswoman said of Toi.
“We are looking forward to Q4 when the building is anticipated to be complete, and we can hand over keys to the excited purchasers.”
Toi studio units are selling from $535,000, one-bedrooms from $700,000, one bedroom with flexi-space from $760,000, two bedrooms from $900,000 and three bedrooms from $885,000.
Why open Toi to the public now, when it’s a construction site and not yet finished?
Even Ockham says it usually reserves open days for when a project is almost done but it brought that forward in what appears to be an attempt to get more pre-sales as construction nears completion.
It didn’t put it like that, though.
“Maungārongo is such a cool site. We absolutely love visiting the team out there and we’d love to share it with you,” the invitations said.
Ockham described features it thinks will appeal.
“This is your opportunity to see our fit-out materials, floor plans, the bricks, aspect and surrounding locale in the flesh. There will be tours across the site, with a handful of near-complete ground-floor apartments to peruse, and a wander up the building to a higher floor for epic views across the city, the Waitematā Harbour and the Waitākere Ranges.
“You’ll be able to chat with our construction crew, our design team, and of course, us! Bring your questions and ask away. As with all our big days out, there will be coffee and treats to give you some energy for, most of all, the stairs,” Ockham’s invite says.
Ockham projects on now or about to begin soon are:
- Freemans Bay: Ockham is yet to start on a site between Anglesea Street and Pratt St;
- Station M, a 14-unit Meadowbank building, construction due to start in this year’s second quarter;
- Build-to-rent Kōanga, on the corner of Oakley Avenue, Waterview, a bright yellow building, construction due to be completed in the middle of this year;
- The Feynman on Great North Rd, where work will begin at some point, yet to be announced;
- And Toi, Ōwairaka, due to be finished later this year.
The developer shifted its head office from the Hypatia apartment building in Newmarket, which it developed, to The Greenhouse in Ponsonby, which is one of its largest city developments.
The Greenhouse was the last major building completed by Ockham, which has downsized and cut staff during the downturn.
Mark Todd co-founded Ockham with Benjamin Preston.
When Ockham finished its 16th development – Aroha at Avondale – it had built 879 units.
Now-completed Ockham buildings are:
- The Ockham Building, 25 apartments, Kingsland
- Wilkinson House (see below)
- The Wamaka Buildings, Wilkinson Rd, Ellerslie, 18 apartments
- The Isaac, 75 apartments, Grey Lynn
- The Turing, 27 apartments, Grey Lynn
- Station R, 37 apartments, Mt Eden
- Hypatia, 61 apartments, Newmarket
- Daisy, 33 apartments, Mt Eden
- Bernoulli Gardens, 120 apartments, Hobsonville
- Set Buildings, 72 apartments, Avondale
- Tuatahi, 119 apartments, Mt Albert
- Modal, 32 apartments, Mt Albert
- Kōkihi, 95 apartments, Waterview
- The Nix, 32 apartments, Grey Lynn
- Koa Flats, 14 apartments, Meadowbank
- Aroha, 117 units, Avondale
- Manaaki, 210 units, Onehunga
Todd featured last year in a podcast with the Herald’s Liam Dann in a feature headlined Surfer-turned-property developers shares the secret to being wealthy.
The native-born Aucklander is proud of the city but said: “I was increasingly frustrated” over the building he saw going on in the late 1990s and early 2000s. “I could see the poor quality, high density, that’s what happened around Auckland from the mid-′90s through to the GFC.”
He describes it as a period of “urban ugliness” and “economic vandalism”.
“Those big, large-scale projects of poor visual quality, they actually are a form of economic vandalism in that they preclude future high-value development of a neighbourhood.”
He wanted to change that, so founded Ockham.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.